I recall a typically brutal Minnesota winter night, say, 2 years ago; my friends Eric, Pat and I were passing through Uptown on Lake Street when we decided to make an oh, so typical stop into Cheapo. I remembered the two of them talking about some local band that they were in to, and I asked them about it. They brought me over to a little section and pointed to a band called Halloween, Alaska.
A few months ago I was lucky enough to begin talking with James Diers, vocals/guitar/keys in Halloween, Alaska, about his influences, his song writing, and his band.
Mostly for me, as a curious fan, what are your biggest influences, both as an aspiring musician and songwriter in your teenage years and present influences?
- Hip-hop was a heavy fetish during my teen years. I used to DJ with friends at parties, nothing impressive in terms of turntable skills or whatever, but we definitely spent a lot of time and money getting into hip-hop. Eric B. & Rakim, EPMD, Public Enemy, De La Soul, those are all groups that have been inspiring/intriguing on some level. It’s probably not so evident in a lot of the music I’ve written/played (give or take the odd Boogie Down Productions quote in a Love-cars tune, or a sorely misunderstood LL Cool J cover). Back then I used to pull together little guerrilla remixes and occasionally write goofy songs/rhymes with friends (think Beastie Boys, but more worthless). My early tinkering around with Casio keyboards and drum machines had more to do with hip-hop than rock music. I think the DIY/empowerment ethic in hip-hop hit me harder than punk did. Most of the rock music I loved as a teenager tended to be more superficial. I was really into Duran Duran for a while. I also loved U2 dearly for quite a long time. It wasn’t until I started getting more deliberate about the act of writing songs that I actually picked up on more direct influences, and even then the directness may be somewhat relative (??). In terms of independent rock bands that had a lasting impact, Archers of Loaf and Afghan Whigs were a couple of favorites. Also Lifter Puller. I enjoyed getting into Elvis Costello’s catalog later on. I had several of my switches flipped when I started checking out American Music Club. Joe Henry is great. Not sure what all that adds up to….? As I’ve grown older, I think I’ve grown more non-committal as a music fan. I’ve become a chronic shuffler. Maybe that’s a problem. Or not. … ?
All three albums, at least to me, have really evolved in their sound, and they all have very different feels and portray different emotions. Was this just a natural evolution due to lineup changes and other factors? Or would you say that it was intentional? And to you what do these albums represent?
- I’d say all three were influenced equally by “personal circumstances” as well as “artistic goals” …. The first album was the culmination of what had been kind of a side project of sorts. We took our time writing/recording it in the midst of other endeavors, so in a lot of ways I think it was a counterpoint to other stuff each of us had going on. We had pretty specific ideas about sounds and moods and stuff. The relationship between the four original members was pretty new and unique, as well. It was a very unfettered process. For the second album, I was living in California and David was starting to travel with The Bad Plus a lot more, so the process was more disjointed, logistically and creatively. I’m still happy with all of those songs, but as an album it’s probably not as outright cohesive as the first. The third album was more drawn out for some of the same reasons (me living away from Minnesota, David on the road a lot) and was also affected by the fact that Ev decided to withdraw himself from the band — first from playing live, and then gradually from the whole thing. He became a dad and got heavy into his work as a software engineer. It was energizing to get Jake on board around that time — he helped to kind of ease that transition and adapt the collective energy. I was also forced to train myself on some engineering/studio stuff to help compensate for Ev’s departure, which is not something I am very passionate about, but in some ways it helped me feel that much more satisfied when the album was finally done. Having Tchad Blake mix it was a noticeable shift, too, in terms of how the band sounded. I guess I’d say the whole project was more carefully handled than the previous two. We just really wanted to be happy with it, even at the expense of career momentum for the group as a working band. Does that all make sense?
If you could, briefly explain the writing process. Most of the songs are heavily electronic in nature, but how does that start? And what does each individual in the band bring to the table or mold the sound when writing?
- It’s pretty collaborative. David and I do most of the initial writing. What usually happens is David or I will bring in a basic shell of a tune — keyboard parts/changes, a basic feel or vibe, maybe the start of some lyrics — and then we work up the arrangement together in rehearsal. Actually David sometimes brings in more complete ideas where he’s already kinda mapped out who’s doing what. Dave’s a pretty holistic songwriter when he wants to be. I’m more a bring-in-some-core-ideas-and-see-where-it-goes-and-then-finish-it-later type of person. Jake and Matt would occasionally bring in parts that we would all develop together. Like, the song “Forever” is based on bass parts Matt Friesen had kicking around for many years. “Champagne Downtown” grew out of a really basic guitar sketch that Jake brought in. I think Jake is great at pulling out some unconventional textures and more angular guitar ideas. Bill is new to the band so even though I’ve known him for years I am just now kinda getting to know where his head is at when it comes to writing. As for the electronic elements … I think we all hear them in our heads throughout the process, but the degree to which we lean on them can vary quite a lot. On some level it’s all sort of reverse-engineered since the songs tend to be originally conceived on an acoustic piano or guitar. Ev was really the godfather on that tip. He has a very deep knowledge of synths and programming. He could often take something pretty organic and help pull into a more “artificially” ambient realm. As his role diminished, I tried to pick up some of that slack in terms of playing keys live and getting a little more conversant with software synths than I used to be. We’re just now trying to figure out how much of a priority the electronic side of things will be moving forward. That element was really essential when the band started, but between the personnel changes and just the overall evolution of things, I suspect it could be less of a focus in the future. Part of it for me personally is finding a space where the technology doesn’t impede or convolute the process. Like, I don’t have it in me to geek really hard over software or plug-ins, I’m more attracted to technology that can become transparent pretty quickly. Stuff like synth pads and electronic drums and loops and samples can all be part of one’s vocabulary or whatever you want to call it, but I’m personally in a zone where I need it to be approachable, where I don’t have to seesaw between my left brain and my right brain too much.
How did the departure of Ev and the addition of Jacob (with his first full length recording being Champagne Downtown) effect the band? Has Jacob’s guitar playing have any influence on the way you looked at and wrote your music?
- Well, for starters, I just really love Jake’s playing and his palette. I love how he brings this kind of half-twang-half-jangle sensibility. He has really broad, timeless tastes but knows intuitively how to narrow them into a distinctive range that he can work with. When we first invited Jake to join, it was mainly to replace Ev in the live lineup, which meant that he would play a lot of keys. It became apparent pretty quickly that it made more sense for me to jump over to keys and let Jake play to his real strengths as a guitarist. He’s also a really positive and kind person, which is a benefit to any relationship, of course. I think the more guitar-driven aspects of the latest album have a lot to do with Jake stepping up and willingly embedding himself into this weird preexisting band, or sometimes allowing himself to be embedded by brute force. My guitar playing on the first couple of albums was a lot more minimalistic, whereas Jake has this whole spectrum of stuff he can draw from. I guess this is just turning into a little love letter for Jake. I love you, Jake. You’re great.
How much does this band do on its own (from recording to artwork to booking to promotion)? Do you have full ownership as a band? And do you believe it is more important for musicians and bands to be more self sufficient and why?
- Recording: All three Halloween, Alaska albums have been recorded at Integral Studio (R.I.P.) with Ev, who was a co-owner of the studio. On the plus side, that gave us a lot of freedom schedule-wise and allowed Ev to really “use the studio as an instrument” as they say. On the minus side, I think it created some uncomfortable compromises for Ev, both personally and professionally, and the lack of a proper session schedule definitely slowed things down over the long haul. Any recording I did myself, whether it was vocal parts in my closet at home or filling in at Integral, was certainly a valuable experience, but I don’t really enjoy being on both sides of the console. Moving forward, we’ll be leaning more on outside engineers and trying to treat any recording we do as a more spontaneous exercise. I think it’s easier than it’s ever been to record music poorly. People who resort to recording themseves out of financial necessity aren’t always gonna benefit from that self-sufficiency. You just have to believe that the person at the controls can do the best and most capable job, whether that’s you or somebody else. I’ve got loads of respect for people who dedicate themselves to engineering, and I think having a “third party” to shake up the process can be really rewarding for a band/musician. And while I totally appreciate the DIY aspects of just setting up mics and turning wherever you are into a recording space, I also think having a dedicated studio really helps to build some intention into the process.Artwork: All the album art this band has used thus far was created internally. I think between the members we always felt like we had worthy ideas that we could execute on our own (give or take help from someone who knows how to do the actual layouts, and those seemed more compelling than using someone else. I really enjoy taking photographs, so for me it’s been enjoyable to use that as a means of interpreting or complementing some of the music.
Booking: We just finished our first year using a booking agent. It had pros and cons. He recently retired from that trade so we are currently just handling it ourselves, which works out OK since we don’t have very aggressive tour plans this year.
Promotion: We had a publicity firm and a radio promo agency working the last record, paid for by the label who released it. That was nice. It was also expensive. We’re free agents now, so it’s hard to say what we’ll do or who we’ll use moving forward, but as with recording, if someone is paid to be good at it, it’s usually more productive than doing a mediocre job on your own for free.
Once you get beyond the actual writing/performing of the music, I think being self-sufficient with any of these secondary concerns can be a bonus financially. At some point it just becomes a question of what your time is worth and where you want to invest it.
Finally, what can we look forward to from Halloween, Alaska in the future?- In a way, we’re still getting accustomed to working with Bill, our new bass player, and figuring out what the next round of music will sound like. We hope to finish arranging and recording some covers that might appear as some kind of EP. Sade, Everything But The Girl, Stevie Nicks, Pat Benatar and Kate Bush are some of the artists we’re dealing with. Simultaneously we’re trying to get a bunch of new originals up and ready, probably aiming to record them as we go rather than plan for an album-type thing. We’ll do a few live shows this summer, but probably no significant playing or touring until fall/winter. There’s no master plan beyond that.
I thank James for this tremendous interview, it was very fun and interesting for me to read the results of this interview. James has been very good to me, this site, and my band over the passed few months, and I can’t thank him enough. I hope you all enjoy this interview as much as I do.
-John
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